A middle-income American family with a child born in 2008 can expect to spend about $221,190 ($291,570 when adjusted for inflation) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next seventeen years. In 1960, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($183,509 in 2008 dollars) to raise a child through age seventeen. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/2/11

In 1932, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to its lowest point in the Great Depression; its value had dropped nearly 90% since Sept. 1929. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/3/11

Proportionally, hash browns have more fat and calories than a cheeseburger or Big Mac. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the minimum wage was originally 25 cents per hour on Oct. 24, 1938. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011

10/6/11

About 92 percent of the coal used in the United States is used for generating electricity. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/7/11

About 19 percent of the total net electricity generated in the United States comes from nuclear power. That's about equal to the amount of electricity used in California, Texas and New York, the three most populous states. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/8/11

Vice presidents, members of Congress, and former presidents and their spouses are granted the privilege of 'franking' - free postage. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/9/11

In 2007, the busiest U.S. airport by passenger traffic, with 89.4 million passengers, was Hartfield-Jackson Airport, in Atlanta, Georgia. The busiest airport outside the U.S., with 68.1 million passengers, was Heathrow Airport, in London, UK. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/10/11

The 1637 collapse of the Dutch tulip market is considered history's first economic bubble. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/11/11

The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves per side in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/12/11

Kentucky has the highest rate of smokers (28.7%) in the U.S., while Utah (11.5%) has the lowest. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/13/11

The rise in the fast food industry has been linked to rising cases of obesity. The CDC estimates that 248,000 Americans die prematurely due to obesity and considers obesity as the number two cause of preventable death in the US (the number one cause is smoking). - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/14/11

On 'Black Tuesday', October 29, 1929, the market lost $14 billion, making the loss for that week an astounding $30 billion. This was ten times more than the annual federal budget and far more than the U.S. had spent in WWI. Thirty billion dollars would be equivalent to $377,587,032,770.41 today. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/15/11

Vernal Equinox 2010, also known as the Spring Equinox or March Equinox, occurs on Saturday, March 20, 2010, at 1:32 p.m. EST. The Vernal Equinox (equinox meaning 'equal night') officially marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and fall in the southern hemisphere. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011

The average movie ticket price in 1975 was $2.05; by 2008, the average ticket cost was $7.18. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011

10/18/11

Residential property burglaries accounted for 67.9 percent of all burglary offenses in 2007 in the U.S. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/19/11

In 1789, the total U.S. federal government debt was $190,000. By Feb 2010, total U.S. debt grew to $14.3 trillion, highest in the world. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/20/11

Each year, Americans throw out enough soda pop cans bottles to reach to the moon and back - twenty times. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/21/11

Women over age 55 watch more television per week than any other age group in the U.S. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/22/11

Annual flu viruses (not including flu pandemics) infect up to 20% of Americans, put 200,000 in the hospital with flu-related complications, and kill about 36,000 people. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/23/11

Cocaine is the most frequently reported substance associated with drug abuse deaths and causes an estimated 39% of drug-related fatalities. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011

10/24/11

China is the largest country with only one time zone, followed by India. Living in a country with a common time would be comparable to the United States having Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and New York all in the same time zone. -Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/25/11

Worldwide, there are approximately 107 baby boys born for every 100 baby girls. Scientists believe the elevated birth rate in favor of boys may be linked to the higher mortality rates of boys in infancy and childhood. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

The word 'dad' entered the English language in the sixteenth century and is believed to have originated from the Welsh word tad, meaning father. The word 'father' comes from the Old English term faeder and was first used in the 1500s. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/28/11

In 1919, Henry Ford sued the Chicago Tribune for libeling him in an editorial headlined, 'Ford is an Anarchist'; the jury found in his favor and awarded him 6 cents plus trial costs. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/29/11

1898: The Winton Motor Carriage Company places a magazine advertisement cajoling readers to 'dispense with a horse.' It's the earliest known automobile ad. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/30/11

U.S. trademarks protect words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services. Unlike patents, they can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in business. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

10/31/11

In 2010, the number of occupied housing units across the nation was 117.7 million - all potential stops for trick-or-treaters. - Provided by The U.S. Census Bureau